Outside/Inside

Toby Bennett

This year was the third time I attended an Off-Print event but the first one in which I was able to have a different insight to it as the studio I am interning at was taking part on this eighth edition of Offprint.


Offprint is always great. Not only because it gathers so many people who are doing incredible printed stuff in the same place, but also because it gives us the opportunity to be able to see these objects in real life and goes without saying how different they become once you hold them.


However, this offprint was different. This edition I was able to be a bit behind the scenes as I was able to attend as a participant. And obviously, by attending as a participant you are closer to what happens behind the scenes and eventually, you get to meet different people from the graphic design practice which is amazing given the fact that you are still a student. Before we had the chance to undertake the DPS year, we were often told how valuable connections are and I think this is the great and the invaluable asset of taking the DPS year. Since I moved to Paris I had the chance to meet a lot of graphic designers whose work I knew beforehand and was also introduced to some other amazing people. And being able to have a decent conversation with these people is truly amazing since the opportunities that might arise from being able to talk to them is great. The reason DPS provides with such a good experience is that it gives you the opportunity to be within this environment from a different viewpoint as you stop being only a student, which sometimes can reveal itself as an obstacle to engage in a fruitful discussion with practitioners.


Considering the fact that I only arrived in Paris a month ago, I could not stress enough how being able to take part of DPS is truly unique and advantageous. The studio environment is great and there is no real sense of hierarchy either, even though it can have its downsides in some situations, it shows how comfortably my stay is being so far. It is interesting to see how in a small studio money influences the outcome. Most of the times, and even before designing anything, we need to get a quote from the printer in order to see if the plans we have work with the budget we are given. Most of the times it has a substantial weight on the process and we need to adopt a different either paper, size or even number of colours.


Being able to take part in the workload and environment of a studio and to understand all the process behind production and design so early in our academic life is really advantageous. So far this experience has been incredibly unique and the opportunities arising from it will be crucial for my final year as well as the years to follow.